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Digest of Education Statistics: 2016
Digest of Education Statistics: 2016

NCES 2017-094
February 2018


Table 603.10. Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who completed high school, by age group and country: Selected years, 2001 through 2015
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country 2001 2005 2010 2012 2014 2015
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
Total,
25 to 64
years old
25 to 34
years old
35 to 44
years old
45 to 54
years old
55 to 64
years old
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
OECD average1  63.7 73.6 68.4 77.6 74.0 (0.03) 81.9 (0.06) 75.6 (0.03) 82.6 (0.07) 76.8 (0.03) 83.3 (0.07) 77.7 (0.04) 83.6 (0.09) 81.1 (0.07) 76.1 (0.07) 68.6 (0.08)
Australia 58.9 70.7 65.0 78.6 73.2 (0.41) 84.8 (0.62) 76.4 (0.25) 86.6 (0.41) 77.1 (0.25) 86.7 (0.40) 79.0 (0.24) 88.1 (0.38) 84.9 (0.42) 73.5 (0.52) 66.6 (0.59)
Austria2 77.0 84.2 80.6 87.5 82.5 (0.12) 88.0 (0.23) 83.1 (0.24) 88.6 (0.50) 83.9 (0.20) 90.0 (0.34) 84.6 (0.20) 90.0 (0.38) 87.1 (0.36) 84.3 (0.37) 76.7 (0.50)
Belgium 59.5 76.3 66.1 80.9 70.5 (0.19) 82.1 (0.34) 71.6 (0.19) 81.9 (0.35) 73.6 (0.21) 82.3 (0.38) 74.7 (0.19) 82.5 (0.49) 81.4 (0.34) 73.8 (0.36) 60.7 (0.42)
Canada 81.9 89.3 85.2 90.8 88.4 (0.12) 92.2 (0.20) 89.1 (0.13) 92.2 (0.19) 90.0 (0.12) 92.6 (0.19) 90.4 (0.11) 93.3 (0.17) 93.4 (0.17) 90.2 (0.18) 84.7 (0.25)
Chile3,4,5,6 45.9 57.9 50.0 64.3 71.4 (0.19) 86.6 (0.24) 57.5 (0.16) 76.6 (0.27) 61.4 (0.15) 80.0 (0.24) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                                                     
Czech Republic 86.2 92.5 89.9 93.9 91.9 (0.08) 94.2 (0.14) 92.5 (0.07) 93.7 (0.15) 93.2 (0.07) 94.6 (0.15) 93.2 (0.07) 93.7 (0.23) 95.8 (0.11) 94.7 (0.13) 87.7 (0.18)
Denmark 80.2 86.3 81.0 87.4 75.7 (0.17) 79.8 (0.42) 77.9 (0.16) 81.7 (0.36) 79.6 (0.16) 82.2 (0.36) 80.4 (†) 83.6 (†) 84.7 (†) 80.7 (†) 72.3 (†)
Estonia 89.1 87.4 89.1 (0.30) 86.4 (0.73) 89.8 (0.41) 86.4 (0.95) 91.0 (0.25) 89.0 (0.57) 90.9 (0.25) 89.1 (0.80) 88.4 (0.54) 94.8 (0.37) 91.8 (0.48)
Finland 73.8 86.8 78.8 89.4 83.0 (0.12) 90.8 (0.20) 84.8 (0.18) 90.0 (0.32) 86.5 (0.12) 90.2 (0.22) 87.2 (0.21) 89.5 (0.57) 89.9 (0.38) 90.0 (0.34) 79.8 (0.47)
France7 63.9 78.4 66.3 81.1 70.8 (0.09) 83.8 (0.16) 72.5 (0.09) 83.3 (0.16) 77.3 (0.09) 86.7 (0.21) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                                                     
Germany 82.6 85.5 83.1 84.1 85.8 (0.06) 86.5 (0.12) 86.3 (0.12) 86.8 (0.32) 86.9 (0.12) 87.3 (0.32) 86.8 (0.12) 87.3 (0.32) 86.5 (0.32) 87.3 (0.28) 86.0 (0.30)
Greece 51.4 72.6 57.1 73.6 65.2 (0.12) 78.9 (0.21) 68.5 (0.13) 82.5 (0.23) 68.3 (0.13) 81.7 (0.24) 70.2 (0.13) 83.6 (0.33) 77.0 (0.24) 67.3 (0.25) 51.8 (0.27)
Hungary 70.2 80.9 76.4 85.0 81.3 (0.10) 86.3 (0.19) 82.1 (0.10) 87.5 (0.18) 83.1 (0.10) 87.0 (0.20) 83.2 (0.22) 86.0 (0.34) 86.5 (0.30) 82.4 (0.38) 77.7 (0.42)
Iceland 56.9 61.2 62.9 69.0 66.5 (0.50) 72.4 (0.92) 71.0 (0.48) 75.0 (0.87) 73.3 (0.48) 73.8 (0.95) 74.7 (0.47) 75.2 (1.33) 79.8 (0.90) 75.3 (0.92) 67.8 (1.00)
Ireland 57.6 73.4 64.5 81.1 73.5 (0.12) 86.9 (0.18) 74.6 (0.13) 85.9 (0.19) 78.8 (0.22) 90.1 (0.25) 79.8 (0.13) 90.8 (0.26) 86.3 (0.21) 75.5 (0.27) 61.7 (0.33)
                                                     
Israel 79.2 85.7 82.1 (0.15) 88.1 (0.24) 84.5 (0.15) 90.3 (0.23) 85.4 (0.14) 90.8 (0.22) 85.5 (—) 91.2 (—) 87.0 (—) 83.1 (—) 78.1 (—)
Italy 43.3 57.5 50.1 65.9 55.2 (0.08) 71.0 (0.18) 57.2 (0.14) 71.8 (0.37) 59.3 (0.15) 73.8 (0.38) 59.9 (0.09) 74.4 (0.27) 65.6 (0.17) 54.3 (0.16) 47.2 (0.18)
Japan 83.1 93.6 (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Korea, Republic of 68.0 94.6 75.5 97.3 80.4 (0.20) 97.8 (0.14) 82.4 (0.20) 98.2 (0.14) 85.0 (0.18) 98.3 (0.13) 85.8 (0.18) 98.3 (0.12) 97.5 (0.14) 86.3 (0.33) 57.2 (0.63)
Latvia (†) (†) 89.1 (0.27) 85.4 (0.69) 89.5 (0.33) 86.0 (0.72) 87.8 (0.26) 84.9 (0.60) 84.8 (0.57) 92.8 (0.41) 88.6 (0.42)
                                                     
Luxembourg 52.7 59.4 65.9 76.5 77.7 (0.40) 84.0 (0.80) 78.3 (0.31) 86.1 (0.58) 82.0 (0.44) 86.9 (0.92) 74.6 (0.33) 84.5 (0.82) 77.3 (0.64) 68.5 (0.66) 66.6 (0.73)
Mexico 21.6 25.4 21.3 24.0 36.2 (0.06) 43.6 (0.12) 37.3 (0.06) 45.8 (0.12) 33.7 (0.06) 45.6 (0.12) 35.5 (0.06) 44.9 (0.12) 34.7 (0.12) 32.0 (0.13) 24.7 (0.15)
Netherlands 65.1 75.1 71.8 81.3 73.0 (0.09) 82.7 (0.18) 73.4 (0.09) 83.3 (0.17) 75.9 (0.09) 85.2 (0.17) 76.4 (0.20) 85.6 (0.58) 81.5 (0.40) 74.6 (0.37) 64.9 (0.42)
New Zealand 75.7 81.8 78.7 85.2 73.0 (0.37) 79.4 (0.73) 74.1 (0.37) 80.0 (0.72) 74.1 (0.37) 81.1 (0.69) 74.7 (0.36) 81.0 (0.69) 78.5 (0.68) 73.0 (0.71) 65.7 (0.80)
Norway 85.8 93.9 77.2 83.5 80.6 (0.16) 83.0 (0.34) 82.1 (0.16) 82.1 (0.36) 81.9 (0.17) 81.4 (0.36) 82.4 (0.17) 81.3 (0.50) 86.0 (0.30) 81.1 (0.33) 80.8 (0.35)
                                                     
Poland 45.9 51.7 51.4 62.5 88.7 (0.07) 93.7 (0.10) 89.6 (0.06) 94.4 (0.10) 90.5 (0.07) 94.2 (0.11) 90.8 (0.07) 93.9 (0.16) 93.2 (0.12) 90.9 (0.14) 85.1 (0.15)
Portugal 19.9 32.5 26.5 42.8 31.9 (0.16) 52.1 (0.39) 37.6 (0.17) 57.9 (0.39) 43.3 (0.17) 64.7 (0.38) 45.1 (0.17) 66.7 (0.52) 55.3 (0.32) 35.8 (0.30) 24.4 (0.28)
Slovak Republic 85.1 93.7 85.7 93.0 91.0 (0.12) 94.1 (0.20) 91.7 (0.23) 94.1 (0.41) 90.8 (0.12) 92.5 (0.25) 91.3 (0.25) 92.8 (0.49) 93.8 (0.42) 92.3 (0.47) 85.6 (0.57)
Slovenia 80.3 91.2 83.3 (0.19) 93.5 (0.27) 85.0 (0.19) 94.2 (0.27) 85.7 (0.18) 93.9 (0.27) 86.8 (0.18) 94.1 (0.38) 91.3 (0.32) 85.2 (0.36) 76.9 (0.42)
Spain 40.0 57.1 48.8 63.9 52.9 (0.08) 64.7 (0.16) 54.6 (0.08) 64.2 (0.17) 56.6 (0.28) 65.6 (0.61) 57.4 (0.37) 65.6 (0.50) 66.1 (0.45) 54.2 (0.49) 40.9 (0.50)
                                                     
Sweden 80.6 90.7 83.6 90.6 86.5 (0.08) 91.1 (0.13) 87.5 (0.08) 90.8 (0.14) 81.6 (0.09) 81.8 (0.20) 82.0 (0.10) 82.3 (0.29) 85.4 (0.18) 84.8 (0.17) 74.6 (0.21)
Switzerland 87.4 91.8 83.0 87.9 86.1 (0.12) 90.2 (0.24) 86.3 (0.13) 89.4 (0.28) 88.0 (0.11) 91.0 (0.24) 88.2 (0.14) 91.7 (0.30) 88.5 (0.29) 87.7 (0.26) 84.5 (0.30)
Turkey 24.3 30.2 27.2 35.7 31.2 (0.09) 42.2 (0.18) 33.9 (0.09) 45.9 (0.18) 35.6 (0.09) 49.5 (0.19) 37.0 (0.10) 52.1 (0.29) 36.8 (0.20) 25.0 (0.18) 22.1 (0.19)
United Kingdom2,7,8 63.0 68.0 66.7 72.9 75.1 (0.18) 82.9 (0.35) 78.1 (0.09) 84.8 (0.16) 79.2 (0.09) 86.2 (0.16) 79.1 (0.18) 85.2 (0.47) 83.0 (0.34) 75.9 (0.37) 71.4 (0.41)
United States 87.7 88.1 87.8 86.7 89.0 (0.14) 88.4 (0.24) 89.3 (0.16) 89.3 (0.29) 89.6 (0.15) 90.0 (0.29) 89.5 (0.13) 90.5 (0.24) 88.7 (0.21) 89.3 (0.23) 89.6 (0.27)
                                                     
Other reporting countries                                                    
Argentina 41.9 51.5 (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Brazil4,9 27.2 31.8 29.5 38.0 40.7 (0.11) 52.5 (0.19) 44.9 (0.11) 58.9 (0.19) 47.4 (0.25) 61.8 (0.31) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
China 14.9 15.8 24.5 (—) 35.7 (—) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Colombia5 (†) (†) 41.8 (—) (†) 52.0 (0.25) 67.4 (0.31) 50.4 (0.25) 66.9 (0.31) 52.8 (0.37) 40.1 (0.39) 30.4 (0.48)
Costa Rica (†) (†) (†) (†) 39.6 (—) 47.2 (—) 39.4 (1.13) 48.6 (1.87) 36.7 (1.57) 34.4 (1.62) 33.5 (2.25)
Indonesia5,9 21.4 32.8 27.8 (—) (†) 31.0 (—) 40.0 (—) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Lithuania (†) (†) (†) (†) 91.2 (0.15) 88.4 (0.44) 91.4 (0.16) 89.7 (0.61) 87.3 (0.39) 95.5 (0.20) 92.3 (0.28)
Russian Federation6,10 88.0 91.0 (†) (†) 94.3 (0.05) 94.4 (0.10) 94.7 (0.05) 94.8 (0.10) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Saudi Arabia4 34.2 (†) (†) (†) (†) 54.7 (—) 68.9 (—) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
South Africa (†) (†) 64.9 (—) 77.4 (—) 42.4 (—) 49.3 (—) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year.
2 Data in 2005 columns include some International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 3C short secondary programs.
3 Data from 2000 reported for 2001.
4 Data from 2004 reported for 2005.
5 Data from 2011 reported for 2012.
6 Data from 2013 reported for 2014.
7 Data in 2001 columns include some short secondary (ISCED 3C) programs.
8 Data for 2014 and 2015 include some persons who have completed a sufficient volume and standard of programs, any one of which individually would be classified as a program that only partially completes the high school (or upper secondary) level of education.
9 Data from 2009 reported for 2010.
10 Data from 2002 reported for 2001.
NOTE: The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was revised in 2011. The previous version, ISCED 1997, was used to calculate all data for years prior to 2014 (with the exception of China’s 2010 data, which were calculated using ISCED 2011). ISCED 2011 was used to calculate all data for 2014 and later years (with the exception of 2014 data for the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, which were calculated using ISCED 1997). Data in this table refer to degrees classified as ISCED level 3, which corresponds to high school completion in the United States, with the following exceptions: Programs classified under ISCED 1997 as level 3C short programs do not correspond to high school completion; these short programs are excluded from this table except where otherwise noted. Programs classified under ISCED 2011 as only partially completing level 3 are also excluded except where otherwise noted. Standard errors are not available for 2001 and 2005. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance, selected years, 2002 through 2015; and Online Education Database, retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx. (This table was prepared October 2016.)